What color would you paint the walls of a photography studio?

VOTE NOW:

White

Black

18% Gray

Thank you.

White, with black curtains that could be used to cover any/all of the walls.

One wall being a north-facing (for northern hemisphere) window.

Hey, this is a dream, right?

I'm more white than gray leaning and considering black unlikely to work for me.

Were your best shots taken with studio lighting in the infinite wilderness by night? - If so black might be the studio color for you.

If you don't have that many lights and like them soft, go for white and all the fill a little spill should provide.

Grey takes an extra flash or two to overpower your to be white background but should be versatile if you have space and lights to play with.

Kind'a depends on what you do in your studio.

If you do portraits with a lot of fill light (low ratio) white walls are great. They reflect a lot of light that can help fill in the shadows.

If you do high ratio portraits, where you want dark shadows, then you need dark walls so that random light doesn't fill in the shadows.

If you need complete control of your lighting, perhaps for product photography, dark walls will minimize the unwanted reflection from walls.

Offhand, I'd suggest either a light or dark gray, using long pull-across curtains to get the opposite effect when needed. As Steve suggests, a dark curtain can be used to kill reflection in a studio with light-colored walls. Or a light curtain with dark walls. Keep in mind that dark walls DO eat up a lot of light, so may take more ambient light to make it tolerable.

If you use curtains to control reflection, it's probably enough to just put them on one wall (opposite the main light). If you want to sometimes use the curtain as a background, one option is to use a rail down one wall then curve it and go across the back wall. The sort of track that they use in hospitals works great for this. Costs a little money, though, so may depend on how much paid work you put through your studio.

Anyway, there's no one simple answer.

You guys are great!

Some info about the studio: It's 23' long and 17' wide.

I have a paper white backdrop on one wall, a paper black backdrop on the opposite wall.

I have a gray like canvas backdrop and a beige like canvas that are like pull curtains.

I like the reasoning that gray walls would require more lighting.

I don't want to alter the lighting, especially dependent on the walls.

There are no windows to deal with.

It sounds like white would be best.

I would presume flat is suggested rather than anything that has a sheen.

Would that be accurate?

Two examples from the incomparable Life Library of Photography, mostly for fun

as it used to be

for modern times

I would presume flat is suggested rather than anything that has a sheen.

Would that be accurate?

Probably. With shiny walls it's possible to get a specular reflection of a small light source; this COULD give you an unwanted light (with its own shadows) from the wrong direction. If the paint is flat, this won't happen. (The light will still be reflected, but it won't be able to make hard-edged shadows.)

Some extra comments that you didn't ask for: since you are putting backgrounds on opposite walls you apparently are planning to shoot in both directions. So in order to keep your misc gear and props from interfering too much you should consider storage racks on wheels; they'll be much easier to get out of the way. My personal preference, assuming you do a lot of shooting of people, would be to shoot mainly from one end, in the long direction. That way you can keep your props on the walls behind and to the sides of you, and they don't have to be moved frequently. (Consider JDM's old-style studio; if you want to use that background, look at all the stuff that has to be moved.)

Something else that is very useful for people shots is a small makeup table with wall-mounted mirror. It's nice to have this in a permanent place where it won't interfere with the shooting area.

I would choose white. It just makes sense to me. There's nothing like nice, clean, white walls. You can of course go for higher lighting ratios with different backdrops etc, as others have pointed out.

I would presume flat is suggested rather than anything that has a sheen.

Would that be accurate?

Yes, I would choose a flat finish for sure.

If you will use the wall as a background, then FLAT paint.

If not, then semi-gloss, to make it easier to keep clean.

Tip: Make the BACK wall WHITE.

Then hit the back wall with a strobe, and you have a HUGE soft light source.

Though this does not work if the back wall is full of cabinets, and other stuff. It has to be mostly clear, to act as a reflector.

As mentioned, it all depends on WHAT you are shooting.

Curtains can be used to kill unwanted reflections off the walls.

Also consider the ceiling and floor color, because once done, you can do very little with the floor and nothing with the ceiling.

A high ceiling is more forgiving than a low ceiling. A low white ceiling will simply be another light reflector.

What color would you paint the walls of a photography studio?

We’ve built three.

The typical and primary use was Wedding and General Portraiture. Typical Illumination was Studio Flash, though at times we did use Photographic Hot Lights. Additionally we did small (physical size) product photography, mainly food – in this case illumination was usually always Studio Flash.

The Walls and Ceiling were painted matt black; the floor was standard Stage Black, composition board.

The ambient light was incandescent and low level.

. . . I would presume flat is suggested rather than anything that has a sheen. Would that be accurate?

Yes, in all circumstances that I could imagine.

WW

Not all "grey" paint is created equal.

Just for the record, true of white and other colors. Paints are often subtly tinted -- something I rediscovered when the flat white I painted a room in turned out to be pink:eek:

White . . . It's really the only choice . . .

Obviously we disagree. That's fine by me, but, reiterating my viewpoint, white is certainly not the only choice, especially if the Studio is set up to use Studio Strobes. Controlling the (stray) light from the Strobes is much easier and also quicker, with matt black walls, ceilings and floors, rather than manipulating curtains, etc.

WW

White, with black curtains that could be used to cover any/all of the walls.

 

One wall being a north-facing (for northern hemisphere) window.

 

Hey, this is a dream, right?

Don't know much about studio work. But your proposal sounds as good as any.

Obviously we disagree. That's fine by me, but, reiterating my viewpoint, white is certainly not the only choice, especially if the Studio is set up to use Studio Strobes. Controlling the (stray) light from the Strobes is much easier and also quicker, with mat black walls, ceilings and floors, rather than manipulating curtains, etc.

 

WW

Yes, makes sense. That would make a good test shoot, one in a white room and black room.

My view is not about testing whether black or white would be better - my key point was to answer the OP's question.

"What color would you paint the walls of a photography studio?"

I think that to answer this question, one needs to explain the purpose of the photography studio: my view is that the colour of the walls (and floor and ceiling) needs to be 'fit for purpose'.

Their would be many purposes (uses) of a Studio which would be best suited for white walls, some which readily come to mind - a Studio that used available (window) light; another would a multi-plex Studio, where some Available light was used and some flash; a Studio where Flash was used and the Flash was of an intensity and the Subject small enough that reflections could be easily contained by black curtains - in these situations having access to a white wall or walls could be advantageous.

However, white is not the only choice.

And for the three W&P Studios we built, the last large enough to sit about 30 people, we choose matt black, for the purposes as outlined, noting specifically that Studio Flash (occasionally hot lights) were used exclusively and this situation black was the better choice - if we wanted any bounce we'd roll in a white bounce screen, rather than moving heavy black curtains to control stray light and reflections.

WW

My view is not about testing whether black or white would be better - my key point was to answer the OP's question.

"What color would you paint the walls of a photography studio?"

Yet . . . You took MY comment to mean that it was THE only choice, not MY only choice . . .

I DID go on the explain my reasoning: That it is far easier to make a white wall work like a black wall than the other way around. I have worked in both and like the simplicity of working in a white room where fill lighting is very simple and there's only a need to add/control key lighting. In a black room, every light must be more carefully controlled. If you are working with professionals, its pretty easy to control every light. A professional model will keep to their mark and their turns to keep the light where you need it. Working with children, pets and even adults, this isn't always so simple.

Yet . . . You took MY comment to mean that it was THE only choice, not MY only choice . . .

I did, indeed.

That was because that was how I understood the meaning of the words that you wrote. Now that you've expanded, (and that expansion has explained the original intent clearly to me) I can see the other meaning and also my misinterpretation.

Thanks for so doing, the clarity is appreciated.

WW